Source: Radio New Zealand
Dunedin City councillor Benedict Ong. Supplied
The Dunedin City Council will consider sanctioning first-term councillor Benedict Ong for breaching its code of conduct after publicly criticising a staff member.
Ong last month sent an email complaining about the staff member’s performance to the council’s chief executive and two local journalists.
The email accused the worker of “apparent political bias” and a “lack of political neutrality”.
An independent investigation by senior lawyer Steph Dyhrberg found Ong seriously breached the council’s code of conduct and his actions could have been a deliberate attempt to retaliate against the staff member for not supporting his account in an earlier complaint he made against another councillor.
Ong used social media to call the findings he victimised or discredited the staff member “wholly false”, saying he had never publicly named the staff member and claimed he had been forcibly silenced and forced to leave a council meeting. He was escorted out of a February meeting with tape over his mouth following concerns about his behaviour.
The council would decide on Wednesday if it agreed with Dyhrberg’s conclusion, provide Ong with an opportunity to address the council and consider possible sanctions if councillors agreed the code was breached.
Possible sanctions included a letter of censure, a demand to publicly apologise, a vote of no confidence, removal of council-funded privileges or an invitation to resign.
Ong also faced losing two external council representative roles that could cost him $15,000 in annual pay.
Sophie Barker. Supplied
Mayor Sophie Barker made the request due to behaviour she described as “extremely disrespectful”.
Ong’s first six months as a councillor had not been smooth sailing with a series of controversies including speaking out after being asked to remain quiet about a code of conduct complaint he made against colleague John Chambers.
Ong claimed Chambers made inappropriate comments towards him.
Dyhrberg also investigated that complaint, but it was dismissed after her preliminary investigation found it lacked substance.
Part of the evidence she considered was a phone call transcript with a staff member who did not support Ong’s account of what was said.
The staff member also raised concerns Ong was known to share information with the media and might breach her privacy, prompting Dyhrberg to ask Ong to keep the information confidential when she shared it with him.
Ong sent the email to the council chief executive and local journalists about half an hour later in what might have been a deliberate attempt to retaliate or discredit her, Dyhrberg said, in a report following her investigation.
She regarded his attempt to discredit the staff member as a witness in a code of conduct process as particularly egregious.
While the staff member was not named, she was readily identifiable, Dyhrberg said.
He risked bringing the council into disrepute and compromising its obligation to be a good employer, as well as exposing it to potential litigation, through his public disclosure of sensitive material, she said.
Dyhrberg noted Ong was given several opportunities to respond to the concerns raised or comment but chose not to.
Ong had continued to defend himself in social media posts.
“I know in my heart and I know in my veins I am Right and I work relentlessly every moment every day for our Great City,” he said, in one such post.
Ong also faced possible removal from his council representative roles on the Otago Settlers Association and the Toitū Otago Settlers Museum Board.
Barker wrote to Ong in February to inform him he was no longer deputy of the council’s technology portfolio and she was withdrawing the privilege of attending informal meetings with herself, councillors, MPs and invited guests after his “extremely disrespectful behaviour” towards her and his refusal to remove disparaging online comments about the chief executive.
She told him she would reconsider her decision when he removed the posts and apologised in writing.
Chambers was recommended to replace Ong as the new council representative for the Otago Settlers Association and the Toitū Otago Settlers Museum Board.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/03/25/dunedin-city-council-considers-sanctioning-first-termer-benedict-ong-for-code-of-conduct-breach/